The Road to Lesser-Known NM
Okay, who would’ve thought that the lush, verdant spot featured in the photo above is New Mexico? Our decision to take the “scenic” road from Southern NM up to Albuquerque may have been our best idea yet. With wildflowers of purple, pink, orange, white, and yellow lining the road, we were surprised again and again.
Roadside wildflowers
We stopped in Silver City, a small town which reminded us of a mix of Richmond VA and Santa Fe, where we got delicious lunch and happened upon a great coffee shop. The road we took from there, Route 180, is sandwiched by two national forests and dotted with small towns along the way. We beelined from there to Pie Town (no joke), which was a bust because the two cafes in town that serve pie were CLOSED!
Lunch at Diane's in Silver City - Spicy chicken and green chile sandwich
Three Dog Cafe, Silver City
Silver City Strip
Luckily we had enough time to make it to the Very Large Array, a network of large dishes that work together to listen into deep space, which was famously featured in the movie Contact (a favorite of Kristen’s). Another two and a half hours of driving landed us in Albuquerque at Loren’s Mom’s house by dinner time!
The Very Large Array, part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory...Think "Contact".
